Sinn Fein has accepted that the North’s political process is in serious
trouble following a call by the DUP for the St Andrew’s Agreement to
be renegotiated.

On Tuesday, the North’s First Minister, DUP leader Peter Robinson called
for the 2006 peace deal to be revised, saying it had always been a
short-term solution, and said the failure to agree a spending budget had
brought the situation to a head.

“We have now come against an issue that doesn’t allow us to hang on with
the present process at Stormont,” he wrote. “The present process cannot
survive the welfare reform issue.”

He urged the British government to get involved in fresh negotiations
and to include the extreme unionist parties in the talks.

He said Stormont’s ‘mandatory coalition’ of the five main parties, led
by the DUP and Sinn Fein, could not continue in its present form. He
described Stormont as dysfunctional and no longer fit for purpose.

“Unless we face and conquer the deficiencies in our arrangements, we
will not be the guardians of a process regarded as a splendid exemplar
to the world but rather we will become a cautionary tale, warning of the
dangers of drift and dithering,” he wrote.

Members of the power-sharing government at Stormont have been at
loggerheads over issues including dealing with the legacy of the
conflict, sectarian marches and how to spend the diminishing block grant
from the British exchequer.

Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams warned that a “negative political axis” was
trying to destabilise the situation at Stormont.

He said: “As everyone knows, the political process in the North is
currently in serious difficulty. A negative political axis is currently
seeking to undermine the Good Friday Agreement and turn back the clock
on the progress of recent years.

“We now have the ludicrous position of unionist leaders, who repeatedly
walked away from talks, asking for new talks.”

He added: “Unionist political leaders may hanker after a return to
majority rule in the North but that is never, ever, going to happen. The
Orange State is gone forever.”

Mr Adams reserved his strongest condemnation for the current British
Direct Ruler, Therese Villiers.

He said: “Rather than seek to bring them to their senses, the British
Government’s interventions to date have merely encouraged unionist
intransigence.”

Last weekend, the 26 County Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie
Flanagan foreshadowed Robinson’s comments when he said the Stormont
parties had failed to deliver “a functioning assembly”.

“I regret that, while there has been great progress over the last 16
years in civic society, the quality of change in political engagement
has been less than many would have wished,” he said.

“The deadlock between Sinn Fein and the DUP is all the more unfortunate
because it does not reflect the vibrant economy and positive atmosphere
evident on the streets of places like Belfast.”

Responding to the Minister, Mr Adams said the Dublin government also
needed to “lift its game” in relation to the political process. He said
the comments were inappropriate for a minister for foreign affairs who
“should be conscious of his government’s responsibilities as
co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement.”

Alliance leader David Ford warned that devolution was in real danger of
collapse if the two governments don’t quickly convene new talks. Mr Ford
said it was no longer good enough to “passively encourage” the DUP and
Sinn Fein to work together. “The governments must now broker the
agreements we need if devolution is to be saved.”

SDLP leader Alasdair McDonnell was scathing of Robinson’s call for
talks, and pointed to their walkout from a previous round of talks in
July over the parades issue.

“The first minister has much audacity in walking away from one set of
talks and now calling for another set of talks,” the South Belfast MP
said.

Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt said the “bad deal” negotiated by
the DUP at St Andrew’s was to blame for the current crisis. He said the
carve up between Sinn Fein and the DUP had become a “face off”.

“The very things Peter Robinson is complaining about are products of St
Andrew’s, which introduced the blocking mechanisms that have led to this
stalemate,” he said.

Another factor in the mix is the fear among the Stormont parties that
their plight may be overlooked amid the turmoil in London over
Scotland’s bid for independence. At previous times of crisis,
high-powered negotiations have been held in grand estates in Britain and
Ireland, and a return to high-profile ‘big house’ political negotiations
is being seen as a likely outcome.

Sinn Fein’s Martin Mr McGuinness was scornful of Mr Robinson’s
suggestion about involving the TUV and UKIP in talks. He warned the DUP
also wanted representatives of the loyalist paramilitaries and “elements
of the Orange Order” involved in discussions. However, he said he was
open to a new process.

“Sinn Fein is for negotiations and dialogue and we have been absolutely
clear that the British and Irish governments, as well as the US
administration are involved,” he said.

The Deputy First Minister complained about the First Minister’s
“counter-productive megaphone or media-based negotiations”, but was
optimistic of a resolution.

“We have overcome enormous challenges in the past by treating each other
with a degree of respect,” he said. With the support and engagement of
the two governments and the US administration I’m confident we can find
a resolution to our current difficulties.”